U.S. and Iranian attacks continue as tensions mount on a key waterway in the Red Sea

AMMAN, Jordan — The U.S. military launched more airstrikes on Iran early Wednesday as Iran hit back against U.S. military targets in the Gulf and Jordan. The attacks overshadowed diplomatic efforts in Pakistan, one of the conflict's mediators, where Iranian Interior Minister Eskander Momeni visited for talks potentially aimed at reviving a collapsed ceasefire between the United States and Iran. The fighting also comes as the Trump administration is seeking billions of dollars in emergency funding from Congress for the conflict. On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the war with Iran has already cost $37.5 billion. U.S. Central Command said it targeted Iranian military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities and military logistics infrastructure in its 11th consecutive night of attacks. It said the attacks were aimed at degrading Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz — a vital shipping channel. Iranian state media reported explosions in seven Iranian provinces and said attacks included a strike on an electrical installation close to a nuclear power plant in Bushehr province. Oil prices rose again Wednesday, at one point in the morning topping $94 per barrel for global benchmark crude, after Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. has crept further above $4 a gallon, according to AAA. The British military's U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre said a tanker was attacked Tuesday in the disputed area. President Trump on Wednesday repeated his threat for Iran to stop attacking vessels in the strait or else face U.S. strikes against Iranian civilian infrastructure. 'From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran,' he wrote online. Contributing to market nervousness over global oil and gas supplies, Yemen's Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, declared that Bab el-Mandeb, a Red Sea waterway crucial to Saudi Arabia's exports, would be off limits to that country. The Houthi-run news agency said six ships in the Red Sea turned course on Tuesday after it issued the warning. The latest round of strikes came after President Trump told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. was planning to target a fortified underground site near one of Iran's main uranium enrichment facilities. Trump also said that the Iranians 'want to meet desperately to try and end it because they are getting decimated.' He added, 'until they're ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest.' Meanwhile, Iran has said that while it is potentially open to negotiations if they safeguard Iran's national interests, it does not trust the United States. Iran said Wednesday it again targeted an air base in eastern Jordan where three U.S. military personnel were killed in an attack last week. Iran also hit the Sheikh Isa air base in Bahrain, a logistical hub for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the third service member who was killed in Jordan as Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, N.Y., bringing the number of U.S. casualties killed during the Iran war to 18. Iran's government says about 3,000 people in Iran, many of them civilians, have been killed in the war. Jordan said it intercepted six Iranian missiles on Wednesday, with two of them falling in remote, uninhabited areas. The Israeli military said it detected an attack Wednesday on Aqaba, the Red Sea resort in Jordan, immediately next to the Israeli city of Eilat, but did not intervene as the missile did not threaten Israel. Iran attacked U.S. military targets at the Aqaba airport earlier this week. Trump in remarks Tuesday appeared to blame Jordan — a small kingdom which is a U.S. security ally — for the deaths of U.S. personnel at the remote Muwafaq al-Salti air base in northeastern Jordan. 'They did slip something through in Jordan,' he said, referring to Iranian missiles. 'And if we had other operators, you know, would not have happened unfortunately.' The U.S. operates its own air defenses within the Jordanian base, backed by the Jordanian air force. It was not clear what Trump was referring to.